The NBA season is coming to a conclusion, and there's a whole heck of a lot that is still undecided. Two games separate the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors from the top seed out west. Though, Golden State is dealing with some serious injuries of its own.
Back east, 3.5 games separate the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 4 and the Miami Heat as the current eighth seed. In an NBA that has lacked late-season drama in recent years, this is a refreshing change.
We're here to take a look at 10 NBA players set to make news around the Association over the final three-plus weeks of the regular season.
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
King James just continues to dominate. Even with his Cavaliers struggling to the tune of a 39-29 record on the season, the four-time MVP is in the midst of another great season. He's averaging 26.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game. Not really a shock, this has James as the most-popular figure in the SNIPdaily NBA Top 100 for the year. With his Cavaliers looking to hold on to a top-four seed back east, that's not going to change any time soon.
James Harden, Houston Rockets
MVP. That's pretty much where this whole thing is headed. Now that his Rockets have surpassed Golden State as the best team out west, Harden will surely earn that hardware come playoff time. And for good reason. Here's a dude that's averaging an NBA-best 31.0 points to go with 5.2 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game. He's doing so on a Rockets squad that's currently on pace to win 65 games. Expect to hear a lot more from The Beard once the playoffs start. Until then, it's all about Houston holding on to that No. 1 seed.
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
It's pretty awesome what Davis has been able to do for the Pelicans since DeMarcus Cousins went down with a season-ending Achilles injury. In the 17 games since then, Davis is averaging 31.7 points 12.7 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per. His Pelicans have also won 11 of their past 14 games to find themselves as a top-six seed out west. Needless to say, Davis has been the toast of Bourbon Street during this span, coming in as the second most popular figure in the SNIPdaily Louisiana Top 100 for the year, behind only Cousins himself.
DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors
DeRozan finds himself in the news for all the right reasons right now. No, we're not talking about his on-court excellence, though that's pretty great in of itself. Instead, it's about him opening up and talking about his bout with depression.
"I always have various nights," he said. "I've always been like that since I was young, but I think that's where my demeanor comes from," DeRozan said, via The Toronto Sun.This was in response to a previous tweet DeRozan sent out saying, "This depression get the best of me." Since this became public, Raptors fans have reached out big time. Awareness of this magnitude goes a long way in helping both those dealing with depression and other people it impacts. It's not a bad thing.
On the court, DeRozan has his Raptors as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the top contender to earn an NBA Finals spot. Obviously, this also has him as the talk of the town up north.
Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
With both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson out of action, the onus has fallen on Durant to become a big-time scorer for the Warriors. Given that he's a multi-time scoring champ, that has not necessarily been an issue. Durant is averaging 35.5 points and shooting 42 percent from the field over the past four games.
This has his Warriors with a fighting chance to earn the top seed out west heading into the stretch run. It also has him as the second-most popular figure in the SNIPdaily NBA Top 100 for the year, behind only King James himself.
Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers
Out since late January with a broken bone in the hand, Love is set to return to the Cavaliers in time for the stretch run. According to Cleveland.com, Love is expecting to return some time next week. Despite the drama surrounding the All-Star and his teammates, a return would be a huge boon for Cleveland's conference title hopes. Prior to going down to injury, he was averaging 17.9 points and 9.4 rebounds while shooting 40 percent from distance.
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
This has been the first injury-plagued campaign we've seen from Curry since 2011-12. He's missed 17 games to various ankle injuries and is out until at least next week after missing the previous three games. This is not great news for a Warriors team battling for the top spot out west.
Though, Curry's return should come with him well-rested. That's pretty darn big for the Warriors, given that he returned to average 35.2 points on 53 percent shooting from distance in the five games following his most-recent injury.
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
Lillard has almost literally taken off in recent weeks. Over the course of the past 12 games, he's averaging 32.3 points and shooting at a 50 percent mark from distance. It's not a coincidence that the Blazers are in the midst of an 11-game winning streak and currently find themselves locked into the third seed out west.
We anticipate Lillard continuing to dominate and being the talk of west coast basketball through the final three-plus weeks of the season.
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
Coming in No. 10 on the SNIPdaily NBA Top 100 for the week, it seems that Westbrook's excellence just continues to fly under the radar. Here's a guy that might very well average a triple-double for the second consecutive season if he's able to put up a strong showing on the boards to close out the season.
Equally as important, he has the Thunder currently as a top-four seed out west. That would mean home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. While Russ isn't necessarily in the MVP conversation, this one scribe certainly thinks he should be.
Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
With his Spurs potentially looking at missing the playoffs for the first time since 1996-97 and just the second time since 1989, Leonard is nearing a return from a quad injury that has kept him out all but nine games this season. It's not exactly known when Leonard will return, but the expectation is some point before the end of the regular season. If so, his presence will be a boon for a Spurs squad that's simply lacking star and scoring power in his absence.
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